Grooming Issues With The Sussex Spaniel

The Sussex Spaniel has a very unique coat. It is a golden liver color that matches the bark of trees at sunset, effectively camouflaging it during a hunt. The coat also protects it in cold and damp weather and allows it to retrieve fowl from waterways. When properly groomed the Sussex Spaniel is a beautiful dog that is very showy and lustrous. There are some grooming issues that need to be kept up with regularly to keep the Sussex Spaniel in tip-top shape.

The Sussex Spaniel does shed a bit. You can keep the amount of stray hair down by brushing it down twice a week. They do have hair in between the pads of their feet that also need to be trimmed. Like all dogs the nails should be trimmed to keep the dog well groomed. The ears and eyes should also be checked during a weekly grooming session for signs of disease.

The dog can suffer from ingrown eyelashes and should be checked for this condition during a grooming session. Teeth also need to be checked to make sure new teeth aren’t pushing aside older teeth and causing them to grow in at angles.

All in all, the dog was bred to be an outside dog and can do well with just moderate grooming. You don’t have to really deal with the shedding if it is outdoors all the time. It should still be brushed to keep matting down and maintain a shiny look to the coat.

Even if you are showing this dog, the grooming needs are minimal compared to other dogs. They like to be shown in a natural state, for the most part. That doesn’t mean you can’t have the dog’s coat trimmed during hot weather, it’s just that it isn’t necessary. They typically don’t require a professional groomer. Since the dog does shed, it is probably not a good dog for people with dog allergies.

The dog is considered to have moderate grooming needs. There is a bit of work to brush the coat out, but it isn’t a long session and the coat generally takes care of itself. The things that are really important in a grooming session are looking at other small details like the hair in between the pads, looking between the toes for seeds and other vegetation, checking the teeth, the ears, and the eyes and eyelashes. These things should be done just as regularly as brushing to be able to pinpoint any problem in the dog’s health early. This breed does have a history of eye and thyroid problems and a possibility of deafness too. By grooming the dog at least weekly, you can get a good idea of what your dog looks like when it is healthy and it can give you an early warning system for when the dog is starting to deteriorate.